About this project

£2,200

pledged of £2,000 goal

81

backers

City of Lost Souls is a critically acclaimed horror comic from writer, James McCulloch and artist, Janine Van Moosel set deep within the heart of Edinburgh.

This kickstarter is to bring the first 3 issues of the comic together in a trade paperback. Not only are we bringing together the issues but the trade paperback will also involve changes to the artwork, lettering, and script.

Serial killer Matt Jordan kills his final victim before killing himself... but death is not the end. He wakes up to find himself in his own personal hell surrounded by the people he killed. Freed by Soul Collector, Soku, he discovers the only way he can live in an afterlife free from his victims is to find the mythical City of Lost Souls.

As if that wasn't hard enough he also finds himself being hunted by creatures from the other side, determined to bring his soul back to be tormented. With nowhere to hide and no idea where to run he must begin his hunt for the city of lost souls.

The first issue was released in July 2014. Since then the comic has come a long way and we have both had a lot more experience working in comics. Looking back now we think there are a few things we could have done differently. Don't worry, we aren't going all George Lucas on it.

From issue 3 fans of the series may have noticed a slight change to the art style. A lot more grays were used to make scenes pop and give the comic more depth. So Janine has went back to the original issues and tidied up the artwork to fit with this style.

We've also tidied up some of the grammar issues from the script and changed the style of lettering which will hopefully improve your reading experience.

With issue 3 we reached the midway point of the series, all changes we are making to the earlier issues are to benefit you, the reader, during the last 3 issues. Saying more would potentially spoil those issues but be assured that we are making this the best version of CoLS that it could possibly be by making these changes.

Below are some examples of artwork changes, you will also be able to see changes in the lettering. The script changes have not been put through yet as we are still going through the edit. We hope you agree that the pages look a lot better.

"Although City of Lost Souls unflinchingly showcases the utter nadir of human nature in bursts of brutal fury, the dialogue manages to mine a vein of dark humour that prevents it becoming too disheartening, while the artwork continues to delight in the gleeful depravity of onomatopoeic viscera."9/10 STARBURST MAGAZINE ISSUE 418

"Scary stuff. Very dark and genuinely dark. both in story and art."PAT MILLS, 2000ad, ACCIDENT MAN, MARSHAL LAW

"Some fairly extreme ideas are starting to roll out across the pages of COLS but there is an underlying point to it all where the worst aspects of life, death and everything in-between are laid bare for us to experience & ultimately learn from. The dialogue from James maintains the same brutal, honest and sharp edge to it while Janine’s artwork has become more highly detailed and visceral since the previous issue…..adding another unsettling dimension to Matt’s story. Grim, gruesome and great is how this all combines and this twisted tale continues to twist."8/10 COMICS ANONYMOUS

"A dark twist on the age-old hero’s quest but without a hero; a Dante’s Inferno without Dante and a final page that only ramps up the promise of further bloodshed in future issues... Dark in tone and in humour."BLEEDING COOL

"What we have here in prospect is a meditation on redemption, on morality and mortality. A story that’s taking on some big, serious ideas with a punky haircut, a flick of the V’s and a whole lot of spit. It’s a book packed with ideas and quirks and charm, laced through with a wicked sense of humour and an irreverence in which it glories."GEEK RETREAT

"Very cool, I felt dirty reading it in a good way. A dark comic series with so much potential."BROKEN UNIVERSE

James McCulloch - WriterJames McCulloch is a film blogger, musician, and comic book writer from central Scotland who spends far too much of his time in bed naked watching bad films and eating Doritos… When he’s not doing those he writes horror comics and plays bass in Bat Country Massacre.

Janine Van Moosel - ArtistJanine Van Moosel a Freelance is Artist and Illustrator from Scotland specialising in portrait art and storybook illustrations. Working on varied projects from Ed Wicke's Wicked Tales, logos for beers, bands and has also had her artwork appear in the TV series Lewis. She has 2 cats and lives in a hoarders paradise in Dundee.